Finding a Path
by orchids787
Summary: Sequel to "A New Beginning"; after Sai's accident. Deals with Hikaru as Sai's sister, her family, friends, school and Go.  Sadness, comfort, drama and humor thrown in.
1. Aftermath, Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

This is a sequel to "A New Beginning"

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Aftermath, Part 1<strong>

"Hey, nii-san, you won't believe what happened today," a small hand grasped on to a much larger one.

"So during lunch, we all went out to eat outside, right under this tree. As we were all chatting and sharing our lunches, Suzi suddenly freezes and her eyes just go super wide like saucers. We ask her if she is fine, but as there is no reaction, most of us lean towards her. And as Momo-chan moves a bit, Suzi just jumps up suddenly and without caring that her lunch is all over the blanket starts screaming at the top of her lungs while she points a shaking finger at Momo. Curious, we turn to see and most of the girls and even some of the boys jump up and take a couple of steps away from Momo. To be honest, I was tempted to jump back too, but I made myself stand my ground and while I am racking my brains to find a way to tell Momo without her panicking too, that there is..."

Pausing for dramatic effect, she continued on, "…this _thing_ in her hair. And guess what happened afterwards? Well, Akira just calmly leans over me and plucks the bug off her. I mean, it was not even a tiny bug or anything. I could have sworn it was the size of half my fist."

To make her point, the girl held out her closed fist. Of course, when she did it, she was reminded once again that he couldn't see her. In fact, she wasn't even sure he heard her. He was just lying there so pale and quiet on the hospital bed without moving. Thanks to the monitors and machines hooked to him, she could hear his heartbeat and know that he was breathing, that he was _alive_.

Forcing a smile, she continued, "Everyone just froze after that. But not a minute later, all the boys were slapping Akira on the back, congratulating him on a job well done while most of the girls were looking at him with adoring eyes, as if he had just plucked the stars off the sky. And Momo and Akira probably thought we were nuts as neither of them understood why we were afraid, as they put it, of a _tiny_ bug."

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><p><strong>2 months ago…<strong>

Hikaru's memories of that day were quite fuzzy; she couldn't remember much. She remember the way he had set at her bed and nitpicked at her clothes, the way he nagged her about her guy friends, the way he seemed embarrassed when she turned the tables on him and teased him about her future sister-in-law. Everything else that happened after she found her brother on the floor was just a blur. She heard that she had become hysterical, clutching and beating her brother to make him wake up; she even had to be reminded about the fact that they had to sedate her to separate her from her brother while the medics took him to the hospital. And she didn't remember awaking from her sedation in a blind panic, screaming for her nii-san.

It all became a haze and it was weeks before she finally noticed the worries on everyone faces; they weren't just for her brother but for her, too. Noone said anything, but Hikaru knew everyone was afraid she would not just break physically but also mentally.

It had been so painful to seat there and listen to the doctor as he explained to everyone what was wrong with her brother and why noone but Sai-nii himself could save him.

"…_**that the car accident he had been involved in had caused blood to slowly swell up in his brain. At the beginning, his doctors believed it would be treatable with just meds, but as time passed not only did the swelling not decrease but it slowly increased. Suggestions were made to have an operation, which had a success rate of 85%. However, at that time, Fujiwara-san decided to delay the operation for the day after he had the attack. As of now, we have been able to relieve the pressure in his brain and no other abnormalities are present. Although the emergency operation was a success, due to the delay, Fujiwara-san is currently in a comma. It is hard to say how long it would be before he wakes up, but it would all depend on him from now on. We have every faith that his will to live is very strong since he had broken our statistic; anyone else who had the same symptoms as him would not have survived this far."**_

Quotes and numbers were given about how her brother chances of survival were high. However, as the days passed and turned into weeks and then months, the doctors weren't sure anymore. Yet, deep in her heart, Hikaru knew her brother was fighting his own battle and she_ knew_ that sooner or later, he would wake up. Sai-nii was a warrior and wouldn't give up without fighting. She just had to believe in him and be there for him when he regained consciousness.

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><p>"Hikaru-chan, there is this new place by the train station that makes really good cakes. Let's go since school ended early today!", said Momo in what she hoped was a cheerful tone. One of her best friends has not been herself lately, and noone could blame her for it; still everyone wished for Hikaru to be back to her old self.<p>

"Sorry, Momo-chan, I can't go today. I want to go see my brother."

"Then we can all go and visit him".

Shaking her head, "It's okay. You guys went last time. You should all go and check out that new cake shop."

"But…"

"Don't worry. Besides, there are tons of things I want to tell him. Just buy an extra piece for me okay?"

"Hikaru…"

"Sorry, got to run or I will miss the bus. See you guys tomorrow".

Momo could do nothing but sigh as Hikaru dashed to the door and was out of sight before she could come up with another reason for her to hang out with them.

"Momo-chan, is Hikaru-chan going to see her brother today too?", asked Risa as she and 3 more classmates approached her.

The plan had been to try to distract Hikaru, at least for a bit. It was getting close to 3 months and Hikaru's brother was still in a comma. Everyone had googled his condition and knew that the more time passed, the chances of him waking up would be slimmer and slimmer.

Hikaru had gone from school directly to the hospital and then to home. And once the next day started, she would repeat the same process again; school, hospital and home. She rarely went out with them anymore, and if she did, she was too worried to enjoy the time spent with them. Their friend would often put on a brave smile and assure them that she was okay, but everyone knew better. Her smiles were not as genuine as before, and though she still joked, it was just half-hearted. All of them were worried about her, but didn't know what else they could do but to pray for a miracle to happen so that her brother would wake-up soon.

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><p>"Hikaru?", Akiko knocked and when there was no response, she carefully balanced the tray of food and quietly opened the door.<p>

When she noticed the figure curled on top of the bed, she set down the tray by the nightstand and pulled the covers over her. They had both come back from the hospital and instead of eating, Hikaru had headed straight to her room. She probably should wake her up, but the poor child had not been sleeping well.

She brushed the tangled bangs away from Hikaru's face and notice that slightly rounded cheeks had given way to paler and leaner features. The small child that had joined her family was growing up and turning into a young lady in front of her eyes. This should have been a time for her to explore and enjoy the last vestige of childhood before she joined the adult world. However, fate kept handing her difficult cards.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, while Akiko was upstairs…<strong>

Down at the kitchen, Akira and his father set sipping tea.

"Father, I don't have a game tomorrow, so I will head with Hikaru from school to the hospital".

During the last few months, the Toyas had been taking turns to make sure that Hikaru came back home instead of staying with her brother.

"If it gets too late, just take a cab. It would help both your mother and I feel less worried about having both of you out at night."

"I will…father…do you think...can it…would you…"

Knowing what his son wanted to say but had a hard time voicing, Koyo answered, "I don't really know. The doctors' prognoses are not favorable, but for Hikaru's and Sai's sake I don't want to believe that the end is approaching for him either."

Silence reigned after that statement as both men stared contemplatively at their cup of tea.

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><p>The next night, both Akiko and Koyo turned as one to the door when they heard Hikaru's shout of "Akira, you jerk! I said I don't want to talk about it" and then running footsteps before the 1st loud bang of a door followed by another door minutes later.<p>

Both parent looked at each other, with Akiko blinking in surprise and asking noone in particular, "Our proper Akira can _actually _be a jerk? Is he finally at his rebellious teenage stage?"

Koyo doubted it and instead of rushing out to see what happened, he convinced his wife to wait until morning to allow tempers to cool down. Things were stressful right now, so people were bound to be more short-tempered. He hoped it was just a fight among children and nothing too serious.

When the next morning came, Koyo wasn't sure what to do; though both Hikaru and Akira sat down to eat breakfast together, they studiously avoided looking at each other. And all of Akiko's attempts to get them to talk were met with a minimum amount of words; "No", "Yes", "Tomorrow", "Maybe", "Fine", "Good" and the longest was, "Thank you".

Maybe his wife was right, "rebellious teenage stage", indeed.

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><p><strong>AN:** Hi all!

Hope everyone had a Good New Year and that this year would be better than the last. Also, welcome back everyone!

Here is chapter one of the sequel to "A New Beginning". At first, I debated whether to keep this with the other story, but figured it was time to end that one so this one could begin. Thought I am not sure how many chapters this story will have either, I do have an inkling of how things will go.

It has been more than 2 months since Sai's collapse and everyone is having a hard time.

Share your thoughts and next chapter should be up soon.


	2. Aftermath, Part 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Aftermath, Part 2<strong>

Akira was currently in one of the Go Institution break room, and had been staring at the same page, and to be exact, at the same paragraph of his book for over 20 minutes. He had a teaching game in an hour and was trying to read just like usual to pass time. However, he just couldn't concentrate; the minute he finished reading one sentence, he realized he didn't have a clue what he just read and will re-read again, again and again.

Since the fight that happened a week ago, Hikaru had refused to speak to him. During meals, they would seat down to eat, but she would ignore all his attempts to make peace. It should have been his turn to stay with Hikaru at the hospital today, but because of work, he was here and his mother with her. Sighing he put his book down.

He wasn't sure what he did wrong; well, to be honest he had an inkling, but he didn't really understand how things got so bad. It wasn't that he wanted her to ignore her brother; it was just that since that incident, Hikaru has done nothing but stay with him when she was not in school or home. She didn't even play any of her schedule games, barely went out with her friends and did none of the things she use to do for fun or just to relax.

Akira, like everyone else was worried about her and thinking that a break from the hospital might be good for her, he had suggested a couple of times for her to return to the Go Institution. He had started by telling her how everyone missed her and that many pros were inquiring about her return. However, all that Hikaru said about the matter was, "I will when I can bring Sai-nii with me."

He had then try to tempt her to play Go with him at home, but she would refuse every single time. The last time he had brought the topic of Go up, she got so mad at him that she called him a _jerk_ who didn't care about anything but Go. He had been hurt by her words, but understood she was very stressed and probably didn't meant any of the things she said. However, with the passage of time, and her continue refusal to speak to him, he himself was getting upset. Did she really see him that way?

Voices interrupted his thoughts, and he almost groaned aloud when he matched one of the voices to a name, Waya Yoshitake. The boy had been on his case during the last week, demanding to see Hikaru and why Akira himself wasn't doing anything about making her attend any of her games.

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><p>"We should just stop by her house and drag her here. If she was here, then she could occupy herself with Go instead of wasting away in sadness."<p>

Before he could remind his friend once again, that dragging someone by force was not such a good idea, his friend left him standing by the door to the break room, while he himself hurried inside and to a corner where Toya Akira was seating.

Groaning aloud, Isumi quickened his steps in an attempt to reach both boys before an argument could break out.

"Where is Hikaru?, Why isn't she answering her phone? Why is she not here?"

Exuding a calm façade, Akira bookmarked the page he was on, set the book aside and looked up at his interrogator.

"As I have told you, Waya-san, at this time of the day, Hikaru is probably at the hospital, which would explain why she is not answering her cell; it is usually forbidden to have your cell phone on at most of the areas in the hospitals.

"Have you found out why she is still ignoring her games?"

"Waya maybe we shouldn't…" added Isumi.

"What do you mean we shouldn't?", snapped Waya. "Forget her winning streak! She has already been forced to forfeit a couple of games before _someone_ had bothered to inform the Association that Hikaru was going on a sabbatical."

"Waya!"

Doing his best to ignore the unfamiliar rising tide of emotion that was burning to spew out of him, Akira gathered his things, ready to leave. He was in no mood to deal with the belligerent boy who seemed to think that it was_ his_ fault that Hikaru was not there.

"If you would both excuse me"

"Oh, no you don't!", added Waya as he blocked Akira from leaving.

"Waya, he has a game soon, so get out of the way".

"Why should I let him run to his game? Oh, I know, he must be happy that with Hikaru gone, he is the 1st board for the upcoming Hokuto Cup…", whatever Waya was about to say was forgotten as a book smacked him in the face.

Akira had enough and without thinking he threw the closest thing at hand to just shut Waya up. "What do you know? Do you think I like seeing her losing weight day by day? Do think I enjoy seeing her put on a fake smile? Do you think I love Go so much that I would wish this on her so I could be ranked higher than her? DO YOU?"

Without waiting for an answer, Akira forcefully shoved the other boy out of the way and left two gaping boys behind him.

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><p>Shaking his head at his friend, "Waya, you know that was out of line."<p>

Looking shameful, "I know. I didn't mean to say it. It was just that I have been so worried about Hikaru and been wrecking my brain trying to find ideas to cheer her up and to walk-in and see Toya seating their so peacefully, as if he didn't have a care in the world…"

"Waya, how thick can you be? Didn't you notice that he was holding the book upside-down?"

Silence met that statement for a bit before looking even guiltier. "I should apologize to him…?"

"What do you think?"

Shrugging, Waya added, "…but who could have thought? His stuck-up highness does have a temper."

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><p>Hikaru set up straighter when she noticed that instead of aunt Akiko, it was Akira who had taken the chair on the other side of the bed. She ignored his throat clearing and just kept working on her homework.<p>

After a couple of minutes of silence, "Hikaru, I am sorry about the other day."

She just kept on writing.

"I really am. Look, I am not good at this, and before you came, all I did day and night was Go. I didn't have any friends, just mere classmates who ignored me and pros that saw the need to either kiss up to me or put me down because of who my father is. I grew up learning Go, loving Go. I thought I could ignore everything, that I didn't need friends as long as I had Go. I…"

Biting her own lip guiltily, "Look, Akira, I am really sorry for calling you names. I know you meant well. And I can't speak about the past, but in this present, I know you do have lots of people who like you for who you are."

Counting on her fingers she went on, "there are of course your parents, nii-chan, me and friends from school like Momo, Sakura, Taka, Kozu…" and on she went, "…then there is Isumi, Waya and…"

Since she was finally speaking to him, Akira was not sure whether he should contradict her or not, especially when she mentioned Waya's name. Even so, he couldn't help but feel a warm glow when Hikaru included herself in the list of people who liked him; it seemed that she might have forgiven him.

"…and don't forget the people from uncle Koyo's Go Salon…"

When there was nothing but silence, Akira snapped back to attention. He had expected her to start with Ishikawa-san's name and then move on to the patrons and students he taught. However, when it was all quiet, he noticed that she had clamped shut, right after saying _Go Salon_.

Akira was not an idiot, and knew that asking more about Go might not be a good idea, but still he forged on, "About the salon, everyone has been asking about you. Why don't we stop by later today?"

"Maybe another day, for today, I just want to stay here and finish my homework. By the way Akira, have you done the assignment for Classical Literature yet? I am not sure what to write that essay about, any ideas?"

"I haven't done that essay either but it's not due until two weeks from today, so we have plenty of time. And didn't you say you wanted to analyze _Hikaru Genji_ from _The Tale of Genji_?"

"Did I? Hm…"

"Hikaru, about Go…"

"Akira, let's not talk about that. I don't want to fight with you anymore. Okay?"

Normally, Akira would have backed off since it wasn't in him to be so pushy, but he had been thinking about this topic for a while and realized that it might hold some key to Hikaru's self-imposed exile from doing anything fun.

"I don't want us to fight either, but I am worried about you. Go…"

"Akira, please…"

Finally hearing the slight trembling in her voice, he hurried over to her side. He knelt by her chair and grasped her hand, "I am sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry…"

Sniffling, "I am not crying. I am just being silly, something just got in my eye."

He tried to peer up at her face, but she moved her head to the side. He was lost and wasn't sure how to proceed, "You are allowed to cry. I won't tell anyone…"

All of a sudden, Hikaru pushed her chair back forcefully, "I can't cry. I don't have the right to. And why should I be crying? I am not the one who is lying on this bed unmoving. I am alive and healthy with people who care for me. Why should I be crying?"

She grasped her brother's arm with both of her hands as she continued, " Sai-nii is the one suffering. But I am so selfish that I make everyone worried about me. I am the one who took my temper out on you, I am the one who called him annoying. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have had that accident, he wouldn't have waited for that operation, he wouldn't be lying here!"

Still not letting go of his arm, she collapsed on the floor and in an almost inaudible yet pain filled voice, "It's my entire fault."

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><p>Later that night, after everyone went to bed, Akira turned this way and that way in an effort to find a comfortable spot in his bed. He thought once again about what happened in the hospital and though he understood Hikaru's pain, at the same time he knew that she was not dealing with it the right away. He honestly didn't think that staying away from Go was the right path for Hikaru. He knew she loved Go just as much as her brother.<p>

If the worst happened and Sai-nii died, he knew that Hikaru would never recover, especially if she still blamed herself for it even before his death; just thinking about what would happen to Hikaru if her brother died made him shudder. He had to think of a way to show Hikaru that playing Go was not bad but good; he had to make her remember the simple joy of feeling Go stones slipping through ones finger, that sound that one made once a stone was set down, the simple satisfaction one felt upon playing a good game and so much more.

Before he finally drifted off to sleep, an image of a book hitting Waya face surfaced; one part of Akira was horrified but he also could not deny that small part of him that felt satisfied about his actions.

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><p><strong>AN: Hi all,**

As promise, here is the next chapter. Did anyone think it was going to be this fast? I figure this would be a nice "thank you" for sticking with me for so long.

Anyways, what are your thoughts and feelings?

My goal for this two chapter was to show everyone how some of the characters are dealing with the aftermath of what has happened months ago; each character's feelings, way to deal with them, etc.

And just like my last story, this would start off slow and I am not sure about when chapters would come out either.


	3. A helping hand

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

**Chapter 3 – A helping hand…**

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><p><em>One lavender colored eye popped open and it startled the two year old child so much that she fell with a soft thump onto the carpeted floor.<em>

"_Hime-chan! Are you alright?", asked the teenage boy as he bent to pick her up._

_He had expected her to cry at the sudden change; one minute she had been sneaking up on her sleeping brother and the next she had fallen on the floor. However, all he got was a giggle from the green-eyed child._

"_Hika go 'ump"_

"_Yes, you silly goose, you went thump. How did you get here? Did you sneak away from mom while she was not looking?"_

"_Hika and nii-chan play! Play! Play! Play!"_

"_Yes, but first let's tell mom before she calls in an army to search for you, okay?", suggested the boy as he bounced her in his arms._

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><p>The days turned into weeks and the weeks into months and then half a year since Fujiwara Sai had been in a comma. The constant flow of doctors coming in and out of his room had not much to offer his family members; no one could say when he would wake up or even if he would. However, no matter how small the chance, one person in particular firmly believed that the lavender-eyed man would not only live through this but he would wake up as his cheerful and spirited self soon.<p>

She sat with him every day, told him about her day, her school and friends. She sometimes gave him news updates about the world, politics, business, science and the weather. But she mostly concentrated on odd tidbits that she heard on TV, from friends, or read in newspapers that she knew Sai would find amusing; the dancing squirrel, the drunk thief that dialed the emergency number because he couldn't find the exit door of his victim's place, the singer who sent the auditioning judges running for cover, the cat who ate only green colored food, and so much more. Through it all, there was no response from him, not even a twitch of a finger.

Through it all, she still persevered; she couldn't break down again. Sai needed her to be strong, her uncle Koyo had declined an invite from the Chinese Go Association, her aunt Akiko kept checking on her in the middle of the night, and Akira watched her like a hawk. And then there were her friends who constantly try to distract her by inviting her out to the movies, to cafes, to tea, to karaoke, to shop, to sports games, and an untold number of activities that teenagers her age liked to do; she went to some and declined others to keep everyone off her back, but deep down she knew she wasn't fooling anyone, at least not herself. Metaphorically speaking, she knew she was barely floating above water, and if she did nothing soon, she would drown.

Hikaru knew that if she asked for help, without doubt, everyone would rush to her. However, she didn't know what kind of help she needed, and to be truthful there were moments she believed she didn't deserve any help.

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><p>Running out of ideas, Akiko finally dragged Hikaru to lunch with one of her friends. They were currently seated outside a café, on a round table with Akiko seated in the middle, between Hikaru and her friend Ana.<p>

"Congratulations Hikaru-chan! I heard from Akiko that after final grades came out, you were ranked as the number one freshman in your year. You must have worked really hard for it."

"Thank you."

"This must call for a celebration. Did you go out with your friends and family to celebrate?"

"Yes"

"Did you have fun?"

"Yes, everyone was really nice."

Not missing a beat, the psychologist went on, "I heard your brother is very smart".

"Yes, he is the best."

"What does he do best?"

"Did you know that he could do everything he sets his mind to? He not only runs a great business, but he is also very handsome and everyone loves him. He is bright and the nicest person on Earth. And you can't stay mad at him for long 'cause he is really good at looking like a repentant puppy."

"Like a puppy?"

Seating at the edge of her seat to get closer to her audience, "He has big lavender colored eyes. And when he wants to he can make this kicked puppy look that makes you feel extremely guilty and…"

Akiko got worried when Hikaru suddenly stopped talking, but her friend did not miss a beat and asked her listener, "A puppy? Oh, that sounds very cute. Hikaru-chan, do you want to see a picture of my niece's puppy? She has gotten him not long ago and keeps me updated with tons of pictures. In fact, she just sent me a new pic this morning." Thus saying, she held her cell out, with the screen facing her listeners so they could see the puppy.

It was quite an adorable collie. It's fur had all different shades of tan, from a barely there light tan to dark brown at some places. And white fur circled the neck, thus creating a sort of collar and from what Hikaru could make maybe white paws? She wasn't too sure since the feet weren't very visible. But what caught her attention more than anything else were the big brown eyes; they were sparkling and looked full of mischief.

"Is it a she or a he? How old? What's the name?"

Laughing at the sudden outpouring of questions, Ana answered, "It is a male, turned one a couple of months ago, and we named him Haru."

"Haru? He is very cute. Aunt Akiko, did you see the eyes? They are so big and brown? And the fur! It looks so soft."

"It is, hold on. I have a picture somewhere of him right after a bath, and you should see how he looked after they dry him off. His fur was all puffy."

"Puffy?"

"Yes, his hair was standing up, but at the same time it looked all so puffy…hm…I know I have that picture somewhere, but can't find it. I had to switch to a new cell and still don't know my way around it. I am not very good with all this new gadgets. How about you Akiko?"

Looking at the phone that was held out to her, Akiko laughed, "Me? I am just as bad as Koyo. But Hikaru is really good at this stuff. Hikaru can you help her a bit?"

Before Hikaru could say anything, Ana had already rounded the table and set on Hikaru's other side. Without hesitation, Ana held the cell between them and started tapping on her phone. "I tap here and it takes me to my _setting_, then I tap _media_, and then the _pictures folder_, but the folder is all empty."

"I have never used your cell's model so I am not very familiar with it. Ana-san, you mentioned changing phones recently. Was the picture you wanted to show us taken before or after the switch?"

"Now that you mention it, it was before the switch, but the sales agent reassured me that everything in my old cell was saved and that I will be able to access it through this new phone. I hope nothing is lost because my niece has sent me at least an album and plus of photos of Haru growing up."

Biting her lip in uncertainty, and looking at the sad expression on the woman's face and the encouraging nod of her aunt, Hikaru gave in and took over the cell that had been offered to her. She was so engrossed in finding the pictures, that she didn't notice the silent exchanges between Akiko and Ana.

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><p><strong>On their way home and in the back of a taxi…<strong>

"That was fun. You really seemed to like the puppy. Would you like to get one?"

Out of the corner of her eyes, Akiko saw Hikaru shake her head while she was sipping happily at her bubble tea. After swallowing a tapioca ball, she answered with a verbal "No."

"Are you sure? While Akira and you are at school or away for games, I will be more than glad to help take care of a pet."

"Is okay. And can you imagine Akira's face if a puppy gets into his closet and starts chewing his suits?"

They both laughed at the imagines, and while taking a sip from the to-go cup of tea she was holding, Akiko whispered under her breath, "I hope the puppy gets to the lavender suit".

Giggling, Hikaru one-arm hugged her and said, "No, really. A puppy would require lots of time and love. Ana-san said the next time she babysits Haru, she will be more than willing to let me play with him."

"That's sweet of her. So you don't mind seeing Ana again?"

"Uh uh…", Hikaru answered intelligently as she try to get the last tapioca ball out with the straw. The thing was being persistent and stuck to the bottom of her cup; she wanted to get the ball out before she finished the last of her milk tea.

"Not at all. She is very nice and didn't use any of the usual psycho jargon on me."

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><p><strong>A day later…<strong>

Akiko's friend, Ana, who also happened to be a psychologist, laughed at the look of amazement on her friend's face.

"I am not kidding, Ana, she really said, _She is very nice and didn't use any of the usual psycho jargon on me._"

"I mean, here I thought we were being subtle, but then she goes and drops that tidbit at the end as if it was nothing! I was so worry about how she would react to professional help."

"Just like you said Akiko, she is really a bright child."

A bright smile bloomed on Akiko's face as she said, "Yes, a really smart and bright child".

But before her friend could go on full mom mode and start the long list of praises that Akiko was bound to give, Ana interrupted with, "After meeting her only once, I can't say much. But I am glad she is willing to see me again. That's a good sign."

"Do you really think so? Hikaru is such a good child, but at the same time she worries us so much. I wish I could do more for her, but I don't know what else to do."

"You are doing the right thing. Right now, it is important that she knows that no matter what happens her family is there for her."

"And we will, she is the daughter that we never had."

Patting her friend's hand, "Don't worry so much, I will do all I can to help too. And you will be surprise at how resilient children are."

"But tell me, how are you doing? I know you love Sai too. What have the doctors said? How are you dealing with it all?"

"The doctors don't say much; just that Sai should have woken up already and they don't know what else to do or think. Koyo and I are trying our best to stay positive for the children."

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><p><strong>AN:** Hi all

It seems it has been ages! I haven't forgotten about the story, it is just that many things happened and I was having writer's block to boot.

I was stuck in the middle of this chapter; had beginning and part of the ending done, but the middle was giving me lots of trouble.

Thank you all for sticking with me and do hope that you continue to enjoy the chapters with me. Feel free to leave lots of reviews. See you all in the next chapter!


	4. Time marches on

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

**Chapter 4 – Time marches on**

* * *

><p>"<em>I am home." <em>

"_Welcome back honey. Come back down after you have changed, I made your favorite" a female voice calls out from the kitchen._

"_Thanks mom," said the teenager as he happily climbs up the stairs to his room. He tiptoes past his baby sister room since he doesn't want to wake her from her nap. But as he approaches his own room, he cocks his head to the side as he ears catches the sound of stones hitting a goban. A puzzle look crosses over the teenager's face as he wonders who it could be making that noise._

_He quickens his steps and pushes the door quietly open and is greeted by the sight of his baby sister's back. A smile blooms on his face and he calls out to her._

"_Himechan!", but his happiness quickly turns to panic as he finally notices the quiet tears pouring down her face. He ignores the scattered stones by the goban in front of them both and carries her to the bed. He sets her down and kneels on the floor._

"_What is wrong?"_

_Watered green eyes look at him and the quiet sobs now turn louder._

"_What happened? You can tell your onii-chan anything."_

"…_ne….ton..."_

_He tugs his sleeves down and wipes at the tears that won't stop coming._

"_Come on baby girl", he picks her up and seats on the bed. He sets her on his lap and as he grabs a hold of each of her tiny fists, he finally notices that his baby is holding a few Go stones in her hands. All of a sudden, it clicks in his head and he starts panicking._

"_The stones! Hime-chan, calm down. Tell onii-chan here that you didn't swallow any of them…come on, say ahhhhh…ahhhhh"_

_He doesn't see anything since he can't coax his baby sister to open her mouth, so he rushes out of the room with her in his arms. He almost crashes into the children's safety gate at the top of the stairs but stops just in time to shout, "Mommm, help! Hime won't stop crying…I think…I think…she might have swallowed one of the stones…Mommm!"_

* * *

><p>Hikaru took a deep breath of the cold air as she stepped out of a car; it felt nice but at the same time almost chilly, the seasons were already changing. Fall was almost gone and winter was getting ready to set in.<p>

She looked up at the blue sky and wondered if any day now it would start snowing. She zipped her fall jacket close and tried to remember where her brother might have left the scarf and gloves that she had gotten him.

Before leaving, Hikaru waves goodbye to Kinomoto-san, and promise him that she would be down here to meet him, about 5 minutes after visiting hours are over. Kinomoto-san had been assigned by John to drive her everywhere; from school, to the hospital and then back home. At the beginning, she had tried to decline the kind offer, but at the end John had pretty much guilted her into agreeing.

"_Come on Hikaru-chan. Think about it, a car unlike the train or bus doesn't need to stop at every station to drop off and pick up more riders. You can just hop into the car and get to where you need to go much more quickly."_

"_But public transportation is so convenient for me; there is a train and bus station within a block or two of school and this hospital."_

"_Yes, but you have been staying with your brother until visiting hours are over. And by then it gets pretty dark out there."_

"_But someone from home always comes to visit brother for a bit before we both head back home. And if it's dark outside, we always take a taxi."_

"_That's good, but what happens if one of your relatives is running late? Or what happens if there are no taxis."_

"_John, you are starting to sound like brother; with all this worrying, your hair is going to turn white."_

There had been many more pros that John listed but at the end, she finally gave in, especially when he mentioned how Sai-nii would have insisted she take the driver. She knew he was right about what her overprotective brother would have wanted, and at the back of her head, Hikaru knew it would also made her aunt and uncle less worry knowing that both Akira and her had a car waiting for them by the end of the hospital's visiting hours.

Shaking herself back to the present, she looked up at the hospital and tries to imagine what her brother would feel about the new season. It had taken her a long time to come to terms with her brother being in a coma. However, she also knew that any day now he would wake up and shower her with his silliness.

She greeted the nurses stationed on her brother's floor and knocked on the door before going in.

"Hello Hikaru-chan. And perfect timing, your brother and I just finished with our exercises", said Hiragi-san, who was one of the PTA (Physical Therapy Assistant's) in charge of taking care of her brother. One PTA always came once a day and assisted her brother with small exercises that helped to prevent his muscles from becoming too stiff due to his lack of movements.

"Hi Hiragi-san, has my brother been good?"

Patting his arm, "He would be good as new when he wakes up; he was in great physical shape before this incident, and we are doing our best to make sure he stays as physically fit as possible."

"I can't thank everyone enough for all your hard work".

After a few more minutes of chatting, Hiragi-san had to leave to visit her next patient. Hikaru then pulls a chair closer to her sleeping brother and as she is talking, she grabs hold of his hand and starts flexing each part of his fingers.

"It is getting a bit colder now but not cold enough for me to wear my winter coat yet. And yes, I already took out my winter coat. Well, to be honest, aunt Akiko had me take it out and made me tried it on to make sure it still fits me. She swears that Akira and I have been getting taller and taller."

Although no one could see her, Hikaru pouted, "I think this year, I only grew 2 inches at most, but Akira is already taller than me by half a head. It is almost not fair! Especially when you think how Akira and I use to be the same height. Nii-san, don't you agreed?"

"Hey, nii-san, are you sure I will grow taller? I mean, look at you! You are nearly 6 ft. And you said that dad was also the same height as you and that mom was around 5 ft, 8 in., right?"

Hikaru stands straight and presses her hand palm down to the top of her head, "I am already 16 and barely 5 feet 2 in."

She seats back down and grabs his other hand to continue stretching and flexing every one of his fingers. "Soon everyone will outgrow me and I will be the shortest girl in the school. By the way, don't think I have forgotten that you owe me a birthday present and another present for getting into high school."

Done with both his hands, she set her own hands down on the side of the bed, puts her head on top of them and looks at her brother; in a more serious tone she added, "But if you wake up now, I will forgive you. In fact, you don't ever have to get me another present for as long as I live. What do you say?"

After a minute of staring at her brother's face, she closes her own eyes for a bit. All was quiet in the room for a few minutes, until bright green eyes pop open. Hikaru shots up from her chair and in a cheery voice says, "Okay, don't say that I didn't give you an opportunity to back out. Now you owe me more than 2 presents. And I am going to collect a fee for each day that I don't get any of my presents."

"Hm…what do you think I should make you buy me?", Hikaru asked as she seats back down and takes out one of her textbook's to start working on her homework.

* * *

><p><strong>At school the next day…<strong>

"Okay, settle down everyone. We must decide what we want to do for the school festival. It is coming up soon and whatever we do, we must be the top 1st year class in this school!", said the class president, Yukihito-kun.

Choruses of "yes" could be heard and in a somewhat more organize way ideas were given out as to what they should do to attain the number one position.

"We could set up a haunted house!

…

"How about a café?"

…

"We could do fortune telling!"

…

"We could set up games and give away prizes"

…

Since the class president and vice-president were currently busy writing down all the ideas on the blackboard, Momo-chan turned back around and almost bouncing off her seat in her excitement asked the people that were near her, "This is so exciting, what should we do?"

"I don't know. I like a lot of the ideas that are being thrown out. Can you imagine if we get to decorate this room as a haunted house? We will have to lower the lights, hang dark curtains and cloths", added Hikaru as she imagined all the crazy things they could do.

"Yes. We can also dress up as monsters and make our faces all scary", added Kishi-kun as he joined the conversation.

"But I am not very good at scaring people. I probably will end up having people giggling at me for not being scary enough", added Mao-chan.

"But it would be so much fun to dress up!", added Momo-chan.

"We can also do a café and I bet we would make a lot of money if we sell food that people like", added the more practical Sakura-chan.

Before more could be said in their group, the president asked everyone to turn their attention back to the front of the class.

"Okay, we have written down everyone's suggestions, and have crossed off the ones that the school won't allow us to do or we would be unable to do due to budgeting or time allowed. You all have 20 minutes to think about it and then we will vote."

After much discussion and brainstorming, the majority of Hikaru's and Akira's class ended up choosing to do a costume café.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hi all

Just wanted to thank all the readers who have stuck with me and as added bonus, do look forward to the next chapter which should be out soon! All your reviews have helped me to continue and not give up despite all the crazy things that have been going on.

In this chapter, I just wanted to show a bit more of Hikaru's daily life. She really believes that Sai will wake up soon, and thus she comes every day to visit him. She still talks to him normally, and has now reached a point that she is even comfortable teasing her brother (she talks about extra presents and even collecting a fee for each day the presents are not in her hands). She is also slowly but surely starting to interact more with her classmates and friends.

And though this chapter is a bit more relaxed, I do at least want to let everyone know that from it, you can pick up a lot of clues as to what will happen in upcoming chapters.

See you all soon and Happy Holidays!


	5. Out of Sight but not out of Mind, Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Out of sight but not out of mind, Part 1<strong>

* * *

><p><em>A teenager set cross-legged instead of the traditional seiza pose in front of the goban; the reason for the non-traditional posture was due to the small toddler who was snuggling in his arms. One hand was in the bowl of stones, while the other was being held by both of the toddler's hand. The girl was playing with her brother's fingers and bending them this way and that. <em>

_After a while, her fascination with her brother's hand turned to the goban in front of them. After her dad set down a stone, she cooed at him, and he in turn smiled across the board at her. She then cocked her head to the side to look up at her brother whose face was unlike the usual grinning one she saw. _

_She squinted her green eyes in concentration and turned back to look at the board in front of her. She wanted to stay in nii-chan's arms so she didn't make too much noise or they will send her away to mommy while they played this game. Her daddy and nii-chan had tried to teach her the game many times, but all she saw at the beginning were black and white colored stones. She didn't understand why it fascinated them so much._

_But even so, if nii-chan and daddy loved it so much, then there must be something really great about it. And she was going to find out what it was!_

* * *

><p>While Hikaru's school was excited about the upcoming festival, the Go Association in turn was all was abuzz with their own news. It wasn't as big a deal as when Meijin Toya announced his retirement from Go, or when Ogata earned the Judan titled. Still there was an air of excitement around the institution.<p>

"_Have you heard?"_

"_The date is finally set for the Hokuto Cup"_

"_Yes, it is not a rumor anymore. Can you belief the best under 18 years old players from China and South Korea will all come to compete against our own best players?"_

"_Who do you think will represent us for sure?"_

"_Definitely Toya Akira…but as to the other two…"_

"_I know, my money is on Toya Akira too. But who would join him?"_

"…_if only Fujiwara Hikaru…"_

"…_I know, if only she would…"_

"…_but maybe she would…"_

"…_yes, there is no way she wouldn't…"_

"…_she must…"_

"…_but we haven't seen her play any games…"_

"…_did she run away?..."_

"_...does she even know how to play anymore?..."_

"…_look, are those boys always hanging out with Fujiwara?..."_

"…_maybe they would know…should we ask?..."_

Waya Yoshitaka was tempted to march over and shout out loud that they could hear them. If they had the guts to whisper so loudly, why couldn't they just come out and ask. Thankfully, Isumi Shinichiro was with him and steered Waya away from the crowd and into a breakroom. After buying both of them a drink from the vending machine, they both set in front of a goban.

However, noone made any moves to start a game. At the end, Waya chugged down part of his drink and slammed his can down on the table; Isumi was just glad that nothing slushed out and splashed onto the table.

"Waya, you need to calm down. Just ignore them, you know how people can be."

"But they are acting like freaking vultures. As if I don't know they are secretly happy that Hikaru has not been playing games and kicking their butts!"

"I know, but it is only a small portion. I really think that the majority of them do miss Hikaru."

"Hmph", was Waya's response as he more calmly drank the rest of his soda.

"I just wish I was younger."

"Isumi, stop sounding like you are an old man."

Waving his friend's words away, Isumi continued, "You know what I meant. You are entering your name into the mix right?"

"Of course! I have already told them to add me to the list back when I heard the rumors about the new tournament. And that I would be more than happy to play against whoever I needed to, to get one of the three spots."

Sheepishly, Waya added, "I also tried to enter Hikaru's name in it, but they wouldn't let me. They said she had to do it herself."

"Waya!"

"What? Come on, you know you want to see Hikaru come back and make mincemeat out of those foreigners."

"True. But with everything that has been going on, I don't know if she would be up to it."

"What are you talking about? With everything that _has_ been going on, this would be a great thing to do to distract her."

Silence followed that statement, as both guys thought about what they could do to cheer their friend up and to convince her to come back to the world of Go.

* * *

><p><strong>At the reception area of the Go Association…<strong>

"Good morning Toya-sensei. Here is your schedule for the next 2 weeks"

"Good morning. Thank you."

"Your welcome. How is Hikaru-sensei doing?"

"She is doing better."

"Do you know when she would be able to come back? Here at the institution, we all miss her a lot."

"Unfortunately, there are certain circumstances that prevent Hikaru from returning."

Before the receptionist could ask more questions, in his polite manner, Akira wished her a good day and headed deeper into the building.

He greeted familiar faces and returned greetings from newer ones. But never did he stop and chat for long; in fact, he was surprised that so many people had tried to stop him and start a conversation. After all, he wasn't known to be one of the talkative pros who exuded an aura of constant openness that invited people to seek him out.

* * *

><p><strong>On another part of the Go Association…<strong>

Ogata Seiji subjected them to one of his looks; he stared silently at them and dared someone to say anything else. As expected, the couple of brave pros all scurried away, with sudden excuses about forgotten appointments, a last minute discussion of a game, a tutoring session and so much more.

Honestly, if they were going to crack just from one of his stares, they shouldn't even have bothered to ask him about whether he knew when the girl would return to her games. What was he? Her time-keeper? Even though she was his sensei's niece, it didn't automatically mean that he, Seiji, would know what one little girl was thinking. And as insensitive as some might say he was, Seiji Ogata was not known to be stupid; there was _no way_ he was going to corner the girl again, like he had done on that one occasion a few years ago. He was not going back into the Toya's household blacklist.

* * *

><p><strong>Hundreds of miles away in South Korea…<strong>

A Japanese Go reporter practically had smoke coming out of the top of his head as he saw his adversary being herded out of the room. Their translator blocked his way to the door and apologized saying that the players and he had to go or they will be late to their respective engagements.

Kosemura would have followed after them if his friend and colleague didn't hold him back.

"Come on, Kosemura-san, I think it would be best if we leave."

Turning back around swiftly to face his partner, "Leave? Didn't you hear what that impertinent brat said?"

"Yes, but maybe there could have been a mistranslation..."

"Mistranslation? Didn't you hear Ko Yong-Ha said that Honinbo Shusaku was weak! As if! Who does he think he is?"

"Like I said, it could have been a mistranslation. They seemed to be surprise to see us, so maybe someone on their side forgot to remind them about our appointment."

"What are you talking about? Don't blame the middle-man; the translator obviously looked ashamed to tell us what that brat dare to said. I don't blame him for doing his job. The fault, of course, lies with that arrogant jerk…"

Taking advantage of the fact that Kosemura was too preoccupied with recalling what had just happened earlier, he guided him out of the building and finally breathed a sigh of relief as he hailed a cab back to their hotel. He though back about what happened an hour ago.

An hour ago, they had both arrived ten minutes before the agreed upon time to meet their guide and the translator that the Korean Association had wanted to use for the upcoming interview. Their agency has set up for Kosemura and Uriachi, to interview the top three South Korean players who would be representing their country in the Hokuto Cup. However, things didn't start on a good footing as it took them a few minutes for the receptionist to call someone down to meet them who could speak Japanese. The supposedly fluent translator had looked a little flustered but they didn't think much about it as they were herded to a room where all three players had been hanging out.

After much back and forth between their translator and the South Korean players, the interview had started in a generic way. Questions were asked and answered.

"_What made each of the young players choose the path of Go?"_

…_.._

_What had attracted them to Go?"_

…_.._

"_Why Go and not another game?"_

…_.._

"_What were their goals?"_

…_.._

"_Who were their favorite players?"_

…_.._

"_And what did they think about other countries players?"_

The answer to the last question by the 1st board Ko Yong-Ha, had led to other follow-up questions, which then turned into the cause of his friend and colleague indignation.

Ko-san's response was that "every country had good players but South Korea has the best."

When asked about why did he thought South Korea were the best in the world, the answer had been, "Because our players are simply the best".

And as to what he thought about Toya Koyo, the Meijin, "Didn't he retired? He was a good player, but now it's time for the new wave to lead and we will be the ones to set our mark and the ones for everyone to follow."

Starting to be put off a bit by the arrogance and tired of the kid dismissing the current Japanese players, Kosemura had asked about what he did then though about Honibo Shusaku whose games were still study and admire by everyone despite the passage of hundreds of years.

"He was a genius at the height of his career, but that was in the past."

Before further questions could be made about that statement, someone had rushed in and through the translator, they discovered that the South Korean players had to leave due to a prior engagement. And with that statement being the last thing they heard from Ko Yong Ha, Kosemura had taken it as nothing but an insult to every Japanese Go player.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hi everyone!

Many things have happened and from so many reviews (thank you everyone, no words can express how helpful and supportive they are to me), I found the encouragement to continue writing. I will continue trying my best, but there is still no set schedule of when future chapters will come out.

In this chapter, I wanted to give a glimpse into what was going on in the Japanese Go Association. As you might have all guessed, only close friends of Hikaru and the Toya's know why Hikaru has taken a leave of absence.

And at the same time, I also wanted to start the gears for the upcoming Hokuto Cup.

Looking forward to reading all your reviews and thank you all for your continue support!


	6. Out of Sight but not out of Mind, Part 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Out of Sight but not out of Mind, Part 2<strong>

_Big greens eyes scanned all the titles that she could see. She saw nothing but books, books and more books. Two walls of her brother's office were taken over by bookshelves; topics ranged from business management to computer science, cooking and so much more._

"_Nii-san, why do you have so many books? Don't you have electronic versions of them?"_

_Laughing, he brushed a hand over the top of her head. "This is only small portion of the books I own. Thought I do have electronic copies of them, I also have my favorite ones in paper format; it is very convenient to be able to store so many books in a small device, but I like to feel, smell and touch the pages of my favorite books."_

"_Hm…what's your most favorite one?"_

"_There are too many to list…hm…but if I have to pick one, I would have to choose this one", he said as he went directly towards one shelf and without any hesitation or the need to look at the titles, he unerringly pulled out an old but well taken care book._

_Guiding her towards the couch, he sat down with her. "My memories are a little bit fuzzy, but I remember when I was about four years old Dad had shown me one of his most precious treasures, a set of Go kifus bound into a book. At that time, though I didn't understand the complexities of the games I was looking at, I was still very fascinated with them. I had begged Dad to let me keep the book in the room so I could look at it whenever I wanted, but Mom said that I was too young to have something like that."_

"_How old were you before Dad gave it to you as a present?"_

_Smirking, her older brother replied, "Not too long. I just knew there was something special about this kifus when compared to the other ones Dad had. So I snuck down to Dad's office every time I could, even at night after Mom and Dad thought I was sleep. Eventually Mom got really worried thinking I would catch a cold falling sleep in Dad's office, and so I gained this and now its yours too. Everything that is mine is also Hime-chan's"_

* * *

><p>"…<em>Hime-chan…Hime-chan…Hime-"<em>

Hikaru woke up with a start. She knew she wasn't going bunkers, but she could have sworn she heard Sai-nii calling her. With a sigh, she turned on her side to check the time, but what caught her eyes wasn't the digital numbers that were shinning on the nightstand but her closet across from where she laid. To be more exact, it was the screen doors of her closet; glowing little stars and planets. Without realizing it, her hands reached for them, her fingertips gently brushing against them as if afraid she was still dreaming.

"..Sai-nii…"

* * *

><p>Hikaru closed her workbook and addressed her brother.<p>

"Do you remember the universe that you made for me? It is still glowing prettily in the dark as if telling me not to forget, that they are still there…just like Sai-nii is still here and would always be by my side, right?"

Even though no reply came from the person lying on the bed, Hikaru still knew the answer to her question and her own response to it was, "Just like Hikaru would always be by nii-chan's side."

* * *

><p><strong>At the Go Institution…<strong>

Shinoda, who was one of the coordinators in charge of overseeing the play-offs games that will determine the players who will be representing Japan in the 1st Hokuto Cup game, couldn't help but sigh as he glanced down at the list. Months ago, Fujiwara Hikaru had been offered one of the three seats for the Japanese Team, but she had kindly but firmly refused the offer. Sighing again, Shinoda told himself that at least Toya Akira had accepted. It would have been awful if two of the top young Go players in Japan had refused to take part.

The Hokuto Cup had taken many years to organize and was finally a reality now. It was for professional Go players who were under the age of 18 and for this year, China and South Korea had agreed to send their top three young players to battle it out on the goban and to learn from each other. It would have been quite a sight if more countries were invited, but the sponsors wanted to start small and only 2 more countries besides Japan were invited. And to generate more news around the world, China and South Korea, who were currently dominating in the Go world ranking, were the countries who Japan had reached out to.

It was going to be quite a sight, seeing what amazing players China and South Korea would send; with his own eyes, he would see not only the new wave of Japanese players who would lead them in the future, but also the best young players in the world, China and South Korea. With a shake of his head to return himself to the present, Shinoda looked back down at the list and caught himself just before he could let out another sigh.

Yes, it was disappointing that Fujiwara Hikaru, who he regarded as the one to lead the new Japanese Go wave, would not be present to represent Japan and to show the world that China and South Korea's titles as having the best Go players in the whole world were in danger of being snatched. It wasn't that the two other players who would be fighting alongside Toya Akira would be weak or anything, but with Fujiwara Hikaru, he would be more certain that Team Japan could surprise the world and come out atop.

Though he didn't know who will win the Japanese play-offs yet, he knew for a fact that they weren't going to be weak players. He knew that each of them had fought and worked hard to be pro Go players, and that each and every player loved Go. It was just that China and South Korea had such amazing players too…

* * *

><p><strong>Back at the South Korean Go Institution…<strong>

"What are you doing?"

Su-Young almost jumped out of his seat at the sudden question that was thrown at him. He wasn't doing anything suspicious, but he had been concentrating so hard on trying to navigate through the Japanese Go Institution website that he had unconsciously blocked all surrounding sounds and had not notice the arrival of his good friend and sempai Ko Yong-Ha. He wouldn't have been so startled if only he could pick more than one character here and there; his spoken Japanese was getting better, but his reading skills was atrocious at best, a Japanese preschooler could probably outread him.

"Sempai! You almost gave me a heart attack."

Rolling his eyes at the exaggeration, he replied, "Then you should look for love letters ideas to write to your girlfriend at a more private location and not at this cafeteria where a lot of people stop by for food and drinks in between breaks".

Getting a better look at the screen, Yong-Ha added, "Though if I were you, I would look at a better website since I don't think any girl would appreciate you sending her love letters in an alien language or in codes."

Despite the flush that crept up his cheek at the teasing that was thrown his way, Su-Young still managed to sound a bit affronted, "I am not looking for love letters ideas for a non-existent girlfriend. I am trying to find out the names of the three Japanese players who we will play at the Hokuto Cup."

"Don't tell me you are still obsessing over that Fuji guy."

"It is Fujijwara Hikaru and I am not obsessing. I told you that I wanted a re-match with that person and he is so good that they cannot _no_t pick him as a Japanese representative."

"Did you check with our team leader? Maybe he knows the players?"

"Already asked and he said that the players haven't been announced yet, which is why I am trying to see if I can find anything in the Japanese Go Institution website."

"Well, better you look than me. What's displayed in your laptop screen seems nothing but an alien code that will need years if not decades to decipher."

"Well, it is almost the same for me too. But this is my only chance; one of the many things that have pushed me so hard since I came back from that trip to Japan was this, this chance to seat across him in an official match and show him how much I have grown."

"You could just go to visit your relatives in Japan again and then arrange to meet with that Fujiwara guy for a rematch."

"But I wanted our re-match to be in an official pro Go game; I told Fujiwara-san that the next time we met, I would be much stronger and a pro."

"Su-Young, you are making this so complicated."

"You don't understand. Do you remember that game I showed you? Even though I lost, don't you think it was still a brilliant game? Don't you want to play him yourself and see how your own skill matches against his?"

"First, I know that my skills are top-notch and I highly doubt any of the Chinese or Japanese players would come close. I just wish they were allowed to send more high level dan and older players against me. Second, I can't remember a game that you have never showed me?"

Blinking in surprise, "I haven't?"

"You did not. You left for your trip to Japan all despondent and by the time you came back home it was as if you were possessed and did nothing but study Go. A couple of months ago, you finally started relaxing more and _then_ shared your fascination about this great Japanese kid that you had a Go defining game with."

Scratching his left temple in confusion, "But I must have then shown you that game!"

"Well there were times when you_ tried_ to, but we were always interrupted for one reason or another. I don't think you even managed to show me a one-tenth of that game."

"Are you done for today? Want to go pick up dinner and to make sure no one would interrupt us here at the Institution, we can go to my house and I will show you that game."

A couple of hours later, Ko Yong-Ha dreamt that for a couple of hours, he was Su-Young…not the Su-Young of _now_, but the young version of him, the one that had spent a short summer in Japan a few years ago.

* * *

><p><strong>In Ko Yong-Ha's dream…<strong>

He had closed his eyes with the thought of sleeping, but the next thing he knew he felt Go stones beneath his fingers. He picked one up and without any uncertainty placed it down on the board. Next he glared at the Japanese kid sitting across from him.

Fierce green eyes stared at the board without looking at him as his opponent placed his own white stone on the goban. He glanced down and frowned at what his opponent did; he was right, the kid had just made a mistake. Fifteen hands later, Ko Yong-Ha couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. He looked at the goban, and knew that he was ahead and if he continued working steadily, he would win the game for sure.

Another ten hands later, Ko Yong-ha finally saw what was wrong; that white stone that he had labeled a mistake was now at the perfect spot. Unconsciously, he held his breath, hoping and praying that his opponent didn't see what he just saw. He couldn't belief that this Japanese boy could read so far ahead.

He took a deep breath, told his heart to calm down and pick-up his own black stone. He could do this, after all, he was one of the top kenkyuusei (insei) at the South Korean Go Institution. After more back and forth, white, black, white, black, white and black, he slowly saw his territory diminish bit by bit by bit.

The closer they got to the end game, the more he felt that his heart was going to jump out of his mouth. By the time the results were given, he couldn't hold his tears back anymore. How did it happen? How was he beaten by a mere Japanese amateur?

First, he lost one game here and there, and before he knew it, he had been dropped to a lower class at the South Korean Go Institution. He couldn't understand what was going on, the games he had lost didn't even make sense since he knew for a fact that the opponents weren't stronger than him. In a desperate bid to escape, he had requested permission to be allowed to follow his mother to visit her brother who had moved to Japan. He told himself he wasn't really running away, he loved Go and just needed some time for himself.

And here he was, almost towards the end of their stay in Japan and him nowhere near ready to jump back into the battle for the top back at his home, did he meet this Japanese kid who would change his Go destiny.

Through his tears he demanded the name of his opponent so he could engrave it into his heart; he swore he would come back after he became a professional player and would win their next game.

_Fujiwara Hikaru_

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><p><strong>AN: Hi everyone,**

Don't know if anyone has picked this up, but Su-Young thinks that the Japanese player he met is a boy since at that time, Hikaru was dressed in cargo pants, loose t-shirt and jacket and her long hair was hidden under a cap. Su-Young, through a translator, had asked for contact information, but all the kid gave him was a name and that soon he would become a Japanese Go professional.

Also, the title _"Out of Sight, but not out of Mind",_ refers to how despite Hikaru's absence from the Go world, her presence is still felt and missed by the Go world.

And thank you to all my fellow readers/reviewers. Enjoy this chapter and do share your views (you never know what might pop up in your inbox as a thank you!).


	7. Beginning of the School festival!

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: <strong>Beginning of the School festival!<strong>  
><strong>

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><p><em>Little hands covered her mouth, but the sounds of giggling still escaped her as she looked up at her older brother.<em>

_He was dressed in a fancy white kimono with a purple under-robe complete with enormous white sleeves as mischievous lavender-colored eyes looked at her from atop a fan held by a teenage boy._

_The figure in white twirled around to the encouragement of "faster nii-chan, faster" and only ended when his long black hat dropped to the ground closely followed by the teenage boy dropping into a melodramatic dead heap._

_Crawling to him, the year old patted his arm to see if he was okay._

"_Nii-chan?"_

_When there was no response, not even a twitch, the year old girl patted his cheek._

"_Nii-chan?"_

_When she reached her hands out again, one lavender-colored eye popped open and turned onto his younger sister as he tickle her mercilessly._

* * *

><p><strong>2 hours before the school's festival officially starts…<strong>

The class-president and vice-president of Class 1-A were standing in front of their homeroom, atop a makeshift stage while trying to convey to their fellow classmates how important today was to all of them.

"Do you guys understand? No matter what, we must win!" To emphasize his point, he slapped his hand against the chalkboard behind him. "Each of the students from the winning class will get to drop one exam grade of their choosing! _One exam!_ And for us to win, we need to do three things rights: (1) make the most money at our Ryoka café, (2) get the best reviews from teachers and guests for our cafe, (3) obtain the most votes so we can win the pair titles for Kaoi's number one _Ideal Pair_."

"And for this last 2 months we have worked tirelessly to make sure this happens. Do the waiters and waitresses have any questions about the schedule that was handed out to you?" asked the class-president who was also the head of the Committee for Class 1-A school Festival.

Receiving shakes of their heads and some "No's", the class-president continued, "Good. Please don't forget your shifts and be ready to step in and help if it is needed."

Checking the next item on his list, "Next, were the coolers double-checked recently to make sure they are still keeping all the pastries and cakes cool?"

"Yes sir, triple checked it," replied Ikkaku-kun, who was the 2nd in command and also the one in charge of the café's sweets.

"Good. Is there enough milk in Cooler 7 and 8 to make milk tea for our customers?"

"Yes, sir. And if not enough, our school cafeteria has agreed to lend us their milk supply as well," responded Masa-chan, who was in charge of the drinks.

"And is there enough hot water at hand for the tea ceremony that Toya-chan would need for the each tea ceremony demonstration that is going to happen every 2 hours?"

"Yes. Plenty of hot water will be at hand, tea leaves, and the tea ceremony set has also been double-checked to make sure it is not broken. Once we are done here, we would clean this stage and set down tatami mats so that Toya-kun…"

"Toya-chan! How many times must I repeat it?"

"Yes, sorry, so that Toya-chan can work up here and allow everyone to have a great view of hi…ahm…" at the glare that was suddenly directed at him, Toshi-kun stumbled a bit before going on, "I meant _he_r tea making skills while our customers enjoy their snacks."

"Very good."

"Toya-chan and Fujiwara-kun…"

Both set straighter in their chair's and answered without thinking "Yes" and "Here" to which in turn earned them a shout and a fifteen minute lecture.

"NO! You two can't talk, remember? If you do, then everyone will know you are _not_ who you are claiming to be. If anything must be said then just gesture to each of your bodyguards and they will deal with any obstacles that might come up, that's _their_ jobs. _Yours_ is to convince everyone you meet that you are who you are dressed to be. Got it?"

This time, both teenagers were smart enough to keep silent and just nodded their heads to show they understood.

* * *

><p><strong>15 minutes before the school gate was opened to allow visitors to pour in and start the 5 hour long school festival…<strong>

Hikaru re-tied her hair into a high back bun, added more pins here and there before adding her last disguise into place by flipping a baseball cap on (with the bill facing backwards). She turned this way and that way so that Mao-chan could make sure that no single-long strand had somehow escaped the confines of her cap.

"You are all good Fujiwara-kun."

She gave her 1st shift bodyguard the thumbs up and looked in the mirror again to make sure she hadn't missed anything either. Not long after their class-president speech, they had all changed into their costumes. Mostly everyone was wearing yukatas to fit in with their theme of a Ryoka styled café complete with an okasama who will great them at the classroom door. The president, vice-president and the rest of Class 1A Festival Committee had worked tirelessly and created a sort of military-like tables and charts were everyone's time was precisely schedule along with breaks.

As she looked down at her cargo pants and hoodie, Hikaru taught back to the time when she found out Akira was going to be helping in the festival too…

* * *

><p><strong>2 weeks ago…<strong>

Hikaru followed aunt Akiko into the living room. She had arrived home five minutes ago and after changing her clothes, as her aunt requested she came down to meet her in the kitchen. As she walked in, she was met with one tray full of sweets and another with a teapot and several tea cups.

"Aunt Akiko, do we have guests?"

"Yes, friends came to visit. Can you please help me carry one of the trays?"

Wondering who it could be, Hikaru almost dropped her tray in surprise as she saw _who_ and _what_ the guests were doing. Cloths were scattered around the room, what looked like bags of make-up (tubes of mascaras, foundations, powders, etc) was emptied into one low-end-table and among all the chaos Akira stood in the middle of the room as three girls from their class surrounded him.

Momo-chan was on a stepping stool as she faced Akira, with one of her hands holding mascara as she told him to "try to not blink". Sakura-chan was behind Akira calling out "the back needs to be tucked in more" as she tugged on Akira's kimono. And Mao-chan was mumbling about "having another sash at home that might go better with Akira's color."

Amidst this chaos, all aunt Akiko did was set her tray and then Hikaru's tray down on the small portion of the tatami mat that had somehow miraculously remained free from all the clutter that was strewn all over what use to be a clean and organized room.

"Don't worry Mao-chan. I have a lot of different colored ones that you guys can use. In fact, why don't you all take a break and eat some snacks. I will be right back with the sashes I have," was all that her aunt said before rushing happily out of the room.

Amidst all this madness, Hikaru had probably stood with her mouth hanging open for a few minutes before she had managed to shut it and demanded to know what was going on. Mao-chan had pulled her into a corner while the other girls continued on as if Hikaru hadn't walked in on a most bizarre sight.

"What is going on?", she asked her friend.

"Don't you think Akira looks so pretty in that kimono?"

"Yes, but why is he in a kimono? As in a _girl's_ kimono?" pointed out Hikaru as she looked back over her shoulder just in case she was the only one seeing things.

"Out of all the boys in our class he is the only one who looks so gorgeous dressed as a girl."

"I guess that's true, but how did you even convince him to do this? And isn't he too busy being a Go professional? You know games to play, games to teach, etc?"

"All true. But we had a discussion with Akira and he doesn't have any official matches schedule on the day of the festival and he is not taking any more teaching games."

Giving her friend a suspicious look, Hikaru glanced over to a calm Akira before she looked back at Mao, "Okay, spill how did you get him to agreed?"

"What? Don't you think he would be interested in helping out? It is his school festival too, you know!" said Mao as she crossed her arms and pouted.

"Spill," was all Hikaru said as she crossed her arms too and waited for her friend to continued.

"You know how each student of the class that wins will have one of their exams grade dropped?"

"Yes and despite Akira already being a Go pro, his school grades are still at the top. I don't think he is in any danger of failing any class."

Fidgeting now, Mao continued, "True but the rest of us are not so lucky."

"Mao-chan, I doubt anyone in our class is in danger of failing any grade, actually I doubt anyone in our entire school is in any danger."

"True, but you know it is Kaio High and we can be quite competitive about our grades…"

Sighing, Hikaru uncrossed her arms and just asked, "But how does this apply to Akira? I mean, I see him willing to stay over after school to help with making signs, posters and other decorations, but don't see how he would be willing to spend the whole day of the festival dressed _and_ acting as a girl."

Seeing no other way out, "Well you agreed to dress-up as a boy and help out."

"True, but I thought Shinji-kun was chosen as the one to dress-up as a girl since Akira didn't know what his work schedule would be like."

"Well…we sort of convinced *cough*tricked*cough* Akira to agreed!"

"You WHAT?"

Smiling brightly at the other occupants in the room since she was facing them, Mao took hold of both of Hikaru's hands (to make sure the girl didn't turn around and gave them away), "Well, it's more like we helped him solve a problem while at the same time he is helping us."

"Mao, you are my friend but I don't take kindly to people tricking Akira, anyone else in my family or any of my friends," green-eyes hardened as they looked in disappointment at her.

"No, no, no! You got this all wrong. Look, you know how Akira was a little bit down after that fight you guys had?"

"Yes, but we have come to a sort of truce."

"I know, but Akira was still feeling bad about it and he heard some of the girls and me talk about how much we wanted you to have fun at the festival but that it would be a shame since we most likely won't be able to win the _Ideal Pair_ award with Shinji-kun acting as the girl…and then another girl said that it would have been perfect if Akira could instead do it."

"Akira then approached us and asked if that would really make you happy. We say that yes, and Akira called the Association and got them to block that day off his work schedule to make sure he was free that day. And while Akira was making that call, the class president heard us and he got everyone to agree to buy you guys dessert for a whole month if Akira agreed to participate."

Surprised at how badly the fight might have affected Akira, Hikaru felt shameful for not realizing it. Distractingly, Hikaru pointed out that Akira didn't even like desserts.

"No, but you love it."

Once everyone finally left, later that night, Hikaru had knocked on Akira's door and asked if he was going to sleep soon. She had then proceed to apologize to Akira about the fight they had and that it wasn't his fault so he shouldn't do anything he hated in an effort to make it up to her.

"I don't hate it. All I have to do is put on a kimono and do tea ceremony demonstrations while everyone else has to do much more harder work. And winning will make you and everyone happy, right?"

"Akira, you know that it would make me just as _happy_ if not more, if you just went with me to that new sweet buffet that opened recently by our school. And it would make me quite _unhappy_ to know you are forcing yourself to do something you dislike."

"Don't worry about it so much. I wouldn't have agreed if I hated it." And without giving Hikaru any warning, Akira dropped the news that, "It is not like it's the 1st time I have to put on girl's clothes".

"What, really?"

"Yes, mother use to dress me up once a year until I was about five years old."

"Oh", was all Hikaru manage as she tried to imagine a five year Akira in a baby girl's kimono.

"Yes, now go to sleep since it is getting late."

"Okay. But you know you don't have to do this right? You can still say no and I will beat up anyone who gives you grief about it."

Laughing at the fierceness in her voice, Akira had reassured her that he knew she had his back, to just enjoy the festival and do their best so that their class would win.

She had then launched herself at Akira, and hugging him with all her might, "You are and will always be my most favorite cousin!"

Hikaru had probably surprise him quite a bit, since it took Akira a few seconds before he had gently hugged her back and while patting her back said, "Yes, and you are too."

She had stayed like that for a minute more before jumping and declaring they should play a Go game now.

Akira had been quite happy that she had brought Go up by herself but surprisingly he had turned her down since it was so late, but both agreed to set time aside to play during the weekend.

* * *

><p><strong>Half an hour before the start of the Kaio School Festival at the Go Institution…<strong>

Ogata Seiji let out a groan as he looked down at his watch and realized that he was going to be late. He had meant to stop by the Institution to drop off some paperwork but then he had been caught up in an argument with the Honnibo as the man tried to play one of his mind games on him.

He should have just left instead of giving tic-for-tat and now he was late; he had promised the Touya couple that he would go in their place to the school festival since they were currently in China to participate in an amateur tournament that his sensei had been invited to.

However, it was as if Heaven wanted him to fall back into his sensei's wife blacklist, because as soon as he came near the reception area of the 1st floor (with the sole intention of breezing pass that area and into the outside), the receptionist had looked relieved to see him.

"Ogata-sensei! Ogata-sensei!"

Not able to ignore the frantic waving either, he had slowed down, "Yes?"

"Ogata-sensei, this two gentlemen said they needed to get in touch with Fujiwara-sensei but I have already told them that she is not in and we don't know when she would be back. And they don't seem to understand that and that we don't give away anyone's personal information."

Narrowing his eyes at the two kids the receptionist had waved at, he tried to recall why they seemed so familiar to him. He didn't think they were any of Hikaru's friends and once the taller of the kid spoke to the other in Korean he realized why he thought he had seen their faces before, they were two of the three South Korean Go players under 18 who will participate in the upcoming Hokuto Cup tournament.

Thankfully, the shorter kid seemed to know enough Japanese to explain that he had met Fujiwara Hikaru a few summers ago and he wanted to just greet him. When Ogata had reiterated what the receptionist said, the kid asked if he could just pass a message or give them their number to Hikaru.

Sighing, Ogata had told them to wait for a second as he called Hikaru to ask if she knew a kid name Hong Su-Young. She had replied with a confuse yes and when Ogata mentioned that the kid along with a friend were here at the Institution looking for her, she had been presently surprised and had happily demanded that Ogata bring them to the festival. He had tried to wiggle out of it, but she had pointed out that he was going to be late already so why not do her this tiny favor and bring everyone to meet her at the school.

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><p><strong>AN:** Hi all,

This chapter is extra-long since it has been a while and I had to shift gears (as in write another story) to see if it would help me with my writer's block; I really do know what would happen in the later chapters and even have part of some future chapters done but this chapter and the next one are just giving me an extra hard time (lost number of times I have re-written this part or that part over and over).

Hope you had fun reading this chapter and share your thoughts.

See you soon (hopefully sooner than end of next month)!


	8. A storm is brewing

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: A storm is brewing<strong>

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><p>"<em>Sai-nii"<em>

"_Hm?"_

"_Are you sure it is okay for me to keep this?" asked Hikaru as she gestured to the bound booklet._

"_Of course. I want to share the pure joy I felt when I received this from father to you."_

"_But isn't this your most favorite book? From your most favorite Go player in the world?"_

"_It is true that it is one of my most favorite books but you are my most favorite person in the world, so what better place for it to be kept but with you? And you also so happen to be my most favorite Go player in the world too!"_

"_I thought your most favorite Go player of all time was Honinbo Shusaku?"_

"_He is a genius when it comes to Go. From the few hundreds games that were recorded, one can tell his love and respect for Go and his games were just a beauty to behold. He was fearless, graceful and so innovative on the goban…but you are different yet the same as him. You have learned to be fearless and with just time and more experience I bet you will surpass him."_

"_But I think Sai-nii is better. The you on the goban is also so fearless and graceful as you ruthlessly slice me in half!"_

"_Wahhh, Hikaru! I didn't mean to do it like that. I was just so excited to see you and then to finally play on a goban with you that I didn't even think about what I was doing! I swear!"_

_Already use to her brother's eccentricities (who else could go from waxing poetically about Shusaku one second and then the next second to a wailing child?), she patted his back as he kept saying how much he loved her despite the fact that it had been months since she finally saw him after he had left her in Japan._

"_I love you too. And I also agreed with you about Shusaku being a genius since I am positive that if he was alive today, then you would be him. I think Sai-nii's Go is that of a modern Shusaku." _

"_Really?" answered Sai as he finally lifted his head from her shoulder. _

"_Yeap."_

_Sai couldn't help but stand taller as he preened at her praise._

* * *

><p><strong>15 minutes before the official start of the School Festival…<strong>

High school students of all grades could be seen running in and out of classrooms in a last minute effort to make sure everything was ready and set for the day.

Shouts of _"Don't forget to get more notepads!"…. "Dot forget to grab more pens"… "I need more green thread for the torn costume"… "Who took my make-up bag?"… "Where are the towels? The board on the 1__st__ table has a smudge on the bottom left edge!"… "…I can't remember my lines!"… "I can see the light on the left side of the room! How can there be light in a haunted house!"… "Why are there only 12 chairs? Where are the rest?"…_

It short, it was quite chaotic but no one could mistake the underlying excitement that every student felt as they continued on their mad dash to get this or that done before the doors of the school officially opened to their family, friends and other guests.

* * *

><p><strong>30 minutes since the opening of the School's Festival…<strong>

Ogata Seiji, current ten-dan and Judan title holder could do nothing but pinch the bridge of his nose as he caught sight of the massive amount of people in the school that he could already see from inside his car as he waited in a _long long long_ line to be able to park his car.

He doubted anyone could miss the gigantic banner on top of the school gates welcoming everyone to _Kaio School Festival_. As he slowly inched his way from the front to the back of the school parking lot, he could already see adults and kids of all ages swarming around the school's front courtyard as colorful booths were scattered everywhere. He turned his focus back to what was going in front of him as the parking patrol officer held a "STOP" sign as a bunch of teenagers giggle their way pass him as they pointed and shouted loudly as to which event they were looking forward to.

Ogata was tempted to bang his head against his steering wheel but refrained from doing so when all it would bring him was just an even more painful headache than the one he already had. He turned his head from side to side in an effort to relax his tense muscles and wondered if he would get in much trouble for smoking inside the school's ground but as he moved another painful centimeter forward, he figure the cigarette wasn't worth the trouble that it could cause; he didn't fancy being called to the principal's office at his age (he would never hear the end of it at the Go Institution if anyone caught wind of it).

And thinking of the Go Institution, he thought back to the impudent brats who had been lucky enough to escape this agonizing wait. They had gotten the best deal out of it; a free comfortable ride in his air conditioned car and none of the hassle that _he_ the driver was experiencing now.

Twenty minutes into the long wait, the older kid in his car had said something in Korean to the younger one before dashing out without a thank you to Ogata. At least the younger one had enough sense to apologize and thank him for the ride before he too dashed out of his car and after his friend shouting "Ko Yong-Ha wait!".

The honking by the car behind Ogata brought him back to the present, and to the fact that it was time to move forward again, as in a _few centimeter_ forward again; it was already 35 minutes since his arrival in the school and as he eyed the number of cars behind him, he couldn't help but sigh as he realized it was too late now to turn back and go home.

* * *

><p><strong>An hour after the opening of the School's Festival…<strong>

"Well, if he isn't here then do they know where he is?" demanded an annoyed Ko Yong-Ha as he looked around Class 1-A classroom that had temporary been changed into a mini-café.

He didn't know much about tea ceremony, but the beauty going through it up on the make-shift stage did seem to know what she was doing.

"Well?" he asked again when the waitress left and Su-Young finally stopped speaking in Japanese. It had taken them an extra 25 minutes to find the classroom after they had left the Japanese pro on his car and another 15 minutes before they were finally seated.

"She said she doesn't know but will ask to see if another classmate would know and you are paying for both our drinks and food."

"What?"

"We can't just seat here and not be customers, especially if we want them to help us."

"Fine, whatever," he resignedly agreed follow by a, "And what are you doing?" he asked Su-Young when he started writing down on the paper poll they got earlier as they walked through the school's main doors.

His friend ignored him but after a minute of reading upside down Yong-ha was able to figure out that Su-Young was writing notes (elegant, gives off the feeling of a well-bred lady, graceful even as she goes through each step of a tea ceremony) next to the picture of Class 1-A Akira-chan and a second later, he realized that Akira-chan was the girl who was up on the make-shift stage.

"You might as well just vote for her."

"But I should at least observe the rest of the pairs on this poll before casting my vote so I am taking notes of everyone before I forget."

Rolling his eyes as his young friend's seriousness, "We both know you are going to vote for your _Hikaru-kun_ so it means by default you would vote for her too since you told me it is a poll about the "Ideal Pair" representing each of the school classes. And even if you didn't vote for this class because of him, the fact that this class girl is the prettiest out of them all should sway your vote for this class already. I mean, what were the other classes even thinking? Their girls look like they were cross-dressing, while the male representatives look like skinny little girls."

"Sempai!" reprimanded Su-Young as he looked guiltily around the room.

"You do realize you are the only one in this room who speaks Korean besides me, right?"

"Still, you shouldn't say such mean things. I am sure the other pairs in this poll gave and are giving their best effort to stand out and secure as many votes for their class."

"Whatever you say. But I already got mine done and slipped it into one of the poll boxes outside while we were waiting in line to get in here."

* * *

><p><strong>Two hours after the start of the Festival…<strong>

It was tougher than Hikaru had expected, this business of keeping quiet while pretending to be a boy. The part about pretending to be a boy was easy while she and Mao-chan (the temporary bodyguard/assistant who was assigned to run interference since Hikaru couldn't speak but still needed to mingle to make sure everyone knew her) passed pamphlets to guests asking them to come to their class and to vote for Hikaru and Akira. The hard part was to keep quiet so that no one would realize she was actually a girl and not a cute little brother (the type that everyone in her class said would garner most votes).

"Hikaru-kun, want to go back to grab something to drink," she didn't even had time to nod in reply before two Go club members had barreled into them and dragged Hikaru shouting how she needed her to kick some uptight guy's behind who was currently mocking them and calling Japan and Shusaku weaklings.

* * *

><p><strong>A few minutes ago at Kaio's Go Club Room…<strong>

Ko Yong-Ha was bore. Utterly, horribly and annoyingly bore. Unfortunately, it also meant that he would say or do something that Su-young would call "stupid" in an effort to end his boredom. They had been in a goose chase in an effort to find Fujiwara Hikaru but had absolutely no luck.

An hour and a half had passed since they left Class 1-A café and they still haven't seen Fujiwara Hikaru who was the only reason why they both had ended up in a foreign country's high school. When they had passed the school's Go club twice, Su-Young had suggested to just go in and ask if anyone knew the whereabouts of Fujiwara. They didn't get a location, but at their wits end, Su-Young had suggested they just play a few games before heading back to his uncle's place.

It didn't take more than a few hands into the 1st game for Ko Yong-Ha to realize that his opponents weren't just amateurs but also amateurs that couldn't even hold his interests for more than a minute. At the end, to relieve his boredom he had ruthlessly forced opponent after opponent after opponent to resign within 10 minutes. If this school really boasted of having two of the most talented Go pro players around his age group, then where were they? You would think this club would have had enough of him by now and would search for their pro players to come and challenge him to prove they weren't all losers.

Yong-Ha perked up when his next victim greeted him in Korean and he saw his opportunity to add more fuel to the fire by saying "Everyone is quite weak. Shusaku would be so ashamed of you guys."

Unbeknownst to Yong-Ha, his words had a much greater effect than he had expected. His opponent's grasp of the Korean language was only in its rudimentary stages, to be more precise he only understood "Everyone…weak…Shusaku…". And added with Yong-Ha's attitude, his opponent figure he was insulting every Japanese Go player, starting with Honinbo Shusaku, who is regarded as one of the greatest Japanese Go players to have ever lived.

* * *

><p><strong>Outside Kaio's Go Club…<strong>

"Where are you going with Hikaru-kun?" Hikaru had heard Mao's shout somewhere from behind them as she was half pulled and half pushed by two sempais from the Go Club.

They weaved and dodged through the large crowd and finally made it to their destination. When they were just outside the door, Hikaru fought the urge to burst out with numerous questions but held back remembering her role for today. They weren't suppose to have their cell phones with them at school but since today wasn't a class day but a festival with tons of non-students mingling, she figure it would be safe to whip her own cell out. And with a few clicks here and there she typed her questions and showed them to her sempais.

"_I am not moving another centimeter until I know exactly what's going on!"_

A few minutes later, much more later than needed since both sempais had started speaking at the same time once again, talking over each other in and gesturing wildly in an effort to get out all their frustration in one go.

More swiping of her cell's screen, _"Are you sure he said that?"_

"My Korean might be in its rudimentary stages, but even I understood the words _Japan, Shusaku and weak_."

"You can ask him if you don't belief us."

After her fingers flew over her virtual keyboard once again, she gestured for both sempais to lead the way.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hi all,

It is a bit slow in this chapter, but there is more action on the next one, I promise!

Also, don't forget to leave a review on your way out since you never know what might show up in your fanfiction inbox as a thank you from me.

And to those who have reviewed, Thank You! I do read every review you leave even if it doesn't seem like it 'cause I am not answering all of your questions. To answer a popular question, I am not completely sure yet on who I want Hikaru to end up with…there are times I think, "_Him_ for sure" and then something else happens and I am thinking, "No, maybe it should be _him_!" We will just wait and see… (Q1) Who do you guys want her to end up with and why? (Q2) Or do you even want her to end up with anyone? (Q3) Can you imagine what Sai would say and _do_ about it?

See you next time and hope you have a Happy September!


	9. Clashing inside Kaio's Go Club

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: <strong>Clashing inside Kaio's Go Club<strong>  
><strong>

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><p><strong>15 minutes before clashing on the goban …<strong>

Ko Yong-Ha drummed his fingers against the table and wondered when Su-Young was going to come back; the kid had stepped out for a few minutes promising to be back soon with drinks for both of them.

His eyes swept over the room ignoring how most of the students were hurdle together eyeing him with dislike. It wasn't _his_ fault that the lot of them sucked so bad that they were forced to resign within minutes of the games starting. His goal all along to coming to Japan was to have a game with the Japanese kid Su-Young was so obsessed with; since the Go Association was giving them a small break and with nothing to do, Yong-Ha had accepted the younger boy's invitation to travel to Japan to visit his family.

The Hokuto Cup was a few months away, so they both knew they wouldn't be able to face the Japanese kid sooner on the Go board unless they took a chance and try to get in touch with him through the Japanese Go Association. Their hopes were dashed when the receptionist refused to give away any contact information to them but their luck seemed to turn around for the better when they met a Japanese Go pro who was on the way to meet the Fujiwara player and was willing to take them with him. However, after a death defying ride _(who knew that the old man could drive like a maniac swerving between lanes as if he was the crazy driver/hero in one of those action movies)_, a much longer wait in the car as they slowly crawled to a parking lot _(not that they had waited 'til the end)_, searching through the school's maze until they found the kid's classroom, waiting in another long line and then finally seated to be told that the Japanese teen was not in his classroom but wandering around the school. In the end, they set their sights on this school's Go club with the hopes of either the boy stopping by or in Yong-Ha's case forcing his opponents to Go crying to someone who could beat him on the goban.

Hearing the sound of a stone finally dropping on the board, Yong-Ha shook away all those frustrating thoughts and wondered if his plan was going to be fruitless; maybe they should just leave when Su-Young came back and try to salvage whatever was left of their day instead of wasting it here.

With his patience running out at his current lousy opponent's latest move, he dropped his black stone with a loud _clack_ at a particular spot that just didn't cut through the small insignificant territory he had allowed his opponent to claim but at the same time made it quite clear that a massacre was happening on the board and it was past time for the kid to just admit defeat.

When he finally resigned, Yong-Ha couldn't even find the energy to smile smugly as he said "Weak...". He leaned back on his seat with his arms crossed and looked around for anyone else who was stupid enough to dare challenge him. Instead of meeting resentful eyes, his breath caught when he met a pair of vibrant green ones.

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><p><strong>10 minutes before clashing on the goban …<strong>

"_You got to kick this guy's butt…"_

"_Thank goodness you found her…"_

"_He is just so arrogant, you have to knock him down…"_

"_You have to teach him not to look down on Shusaku…"_

"_You have to show him that Japan does not have weak Go players…"_

And the comments went on and on as Hikaru was pulled and pushed to where her opponent was seated in a corner. She was tempted to shout out loud and tell many of the Go Club members to stop pulling and pushing her, especially seeing as she had two perfectly good legs and could walk by herself.

"_Did you see it? He is just mocking us!"_

"_He just said Weak in Korean!"_

She sighed exasperatedly and moved into position to see if this rude Korean boy was really not only insulting every member of the Go Club but also Shusaku himself, which also happened to be one of her brother's most beloved Go player.

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><p><strong>7 minutes before clashing on the goban …<strong>

Years later, when asked where and who his first love was (aside from Go), Ko Yong-Ha would be able to admit without a doubt it occurred not long after he had turned 16 years old, on his very first trip to Japan, on the 2nd day of being in a foreign land, in a school where most of the students including his crush (though at the time he hadn't understood what _that_ weird feeling around his heart was) couldn't understand his native language at all.

He had met vibrant green eyes which upon closer look did seem a bit annoyed with him. He had been so thunderstruck that he had probably stared like a fish out of water when his crush was pushed into the seat across from him while a small crowd gathered around them buzzing like bees as they spoke Japanese that was too quick for him to pick up (not that it mattered seeing as he didn't speak any Japanese). The only teen in the crowd who spoke a bit of Korean was pushed to the front and served as the club's representative as he gestured wildly around at Yong-Ha and fire off more Japanese at the person across the goban.

Paper and pen materialized from somewhere and delicate fingers flew over it. The crowd, including the chosen representative looked at what was written on the paper and then everyone started speaking at the same time as they pointed in his general direction. He had focused back to the present, shook away that weird feeling (must be indigestion at eating foreign food) and caught the gist from the translator's broken Korean that seated across from him was none other than Fujiwara Hikaru.

A light had been turned on in his head when he realized that the weird feeling was not indigestion but probably part of his Go's sixth sense trying to tell him that this next game was not going to be with another boring amateur but with the long awaited opponent who had finally decided to show up, though was Fujiwara Hikaru mute? Not that it really mattered seeing as one didn't need a voice to be able to play Go.

His opponent whipped out a cell phone and showed him a question in Hangul, in characters that he could actually read asking if he had called everyone, including Shusaku weak. In his eagerness to start the game, unfortunately for him, instead of trying to clarify the misunderstanding, he just nodded (saying no could lead to more questions and a delay in the game) and gestured for his opponent to pick up some stones to nigiri.

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><p><strong>5 minutes before the clash on the goban…<strong>

Hikaru stood up indignantly and caught herself just in time before she demanded aloud (she reminder herself not to speak 'til the end of the festival or her class would kill her) that the older boy explain himself; could there really be someone so arrogant out there who would describe Honinbo Shusaku as weak? Did the guy had a few screws loose?

As all misunderstandings are bound to happen, when Hikaru stood up, Young-Ha interpreted it as a signal that she was leaving and quick as a snake that had sighted its prey, he rose just as fast and grabbed a hold of her wrist while he said something in Korean.

The sempai that seemed to understand some Korean also grabbed hold of her other wrist as he shouted, "See, he just called you a coward. He is looking down on all of us Japanese. You can't go anywhere until you have taught him a lesson."

Though Hikaru was still not sure if the translation was done correctly seeing as emotions were running quite high in this room, still she couldn't mistake the challenging attitude from the Go player across the goban. From the few minutes she was able to observe him playing with one of her schoolmates before he had crushed him like a bug in a few moves, she also understood that the guy was not just any Go professional but also someone who was quite good.

She sighed and shook off the hands that she had allowed to hold her in place for a bit. She had never played against a foreigner (aside from net Go) and here was a perfect opportunity for her to flex her wings and tests her skills against a Korean pro player.

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><p><strong>Clashing on the goban…<strong>

For an hour all was silent except for the "clack…clack…clack…" sounds of black and white stones being placed on the board. Every one of the spectators had knowledge of how the game was played and even though many were able to keep up at the beginning, eventually as the players sped up everyone started having a harder time understanding the mad dance occurring in front of them.

Not that the game had started peacefully either since black (Hikaru) didn't choose to open with a basic joseki to secure some corners but instead chose to open with an ancient joseki, as in Shusaku's joseki! White had reply steadily with a modern joseki but it wasn't until the middle game that the time between each move became shorter and shorter as both players ended up playing speed Go.

Thankfully, things started slowing down as the end of the middle game approached though by then the audience didn't have a clue of where the game had been heading since noone in the crowd could keep up with them. If only the club adviser wasn't out sick and left them all with a teacher who had kindly agreed to help look out after a club that he unfortunately didn't understand at all.

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><p><strong>Hikaru's thoughts as she played…<strong>

Hikaru couldn't help but figuratively thumb her nose at the South Korean boy when she opened with Shusaku's favorite joseki; it was old but there was a reason why many favored it for a time and Hikaru was a modern girl so she had absolutely no problem using what many thought was a disadvantageous opening and turning it into a strategic one for her middle game.

She loved when players looked down on her which ultimately resulted in them walking blindly into her snares with nary a thought about their demise. She knew when one deconstructed her Go, her basics were greatly influenced by her brother's Go which in turn was influenced by Honinbo Shusaku's Go. However, her Go was not as elegant and refined as her brother's; her's wasn't a polish and gleaming blade that cut through her opponents with ease but more of a set of traps that ensnared you when you least expected it.

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><p><strong>And on the other hand…<strong>

Ko Yong-Ha was beyond ecstatic. He paused a bit at his opponent odd choice of joseki, but he still kept his guard up due to the game this player had against Su-Young. However, with each hand they exchanged, he couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement. He lost sense of time while he juggle in his head as many paths as he could think of to follow depending on where the black stones landed.

As his opponents speed increased, he found himself responding just as fast as they dared each other to go faster without screwing up any of their own moves. It was quite exhilarating playing with someone his own age who not only kept up with him but kept him on his toes; someone who was so good that he had started losing territory without realizing it until it was too late. As more hands were exchanged, he eventually lost count of who was ahead and who was behind by how many stones. And as they approached the end of the middle game, he had to wipe his palms; his hands had actually been sweating!

His opponent's Go had initialed looked like an innocent children's maze before it eventually dropped its disguise and showed you a house filled with traps, hidden doors, and paths that led you nowhere if you weren't quick enough to escape. He had thought himself fast enough to escape it all, but before the end of yose, he realized that he had been caught by 1.5 mokus.

By 1.5 mokus. He had bowed his head slightly in resignation, to communicate without words to his opponent that he acknowledge that this game belonged to the other boy. However, before he could say or do anything, his opponent had stood up and headed for the door. He, Ko Yong-Ha panicked and without thinking lunged after him.

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><p><strong>Less than 2 minutes after the end of the game…<strong>

As Hikaru got up to leave, she ignored the questions that were thrown her way and around the crowd.

"_You did win, right?"_

"_How many mokus?"_

"_Were you able to keep up?"_

"_I have no clue what just happened!"_

"_Did you see that? Huh! Now who is weak!"_

However, Hikaru did hear the shouts of alarm and turned just in time to sidestep her ex-opponent as he lunged pass her, had enough time to grab his arm, shift her center of gravity, and then throw Ko Yong-Ha over her shoulder. What was with people nowadays? She might not have been officially back in the Go pro world yet and back to playing official matches, but she highly doubted manhandling their opponents was the new _in thing_ in the Go world.

Not bothering to look back at the out of breath spread-eagle teenager on the floor, Hikaru simply walked away before he could even react. Hopefully the fight on the board and that last throw from her would teach the boy to (1) stop looking down on her brother's beloved Shusaku and (2) just because she was female and smaller than him didn't mean she couldn't defend herself when off a Go board either.

Also, another reason for her speedy exit was that she finally remembered once again she had a class to worry about that would kill her if she didn't circulate around the school more in an effort to gather as many votes as possible. And most importantly, a month of free desserts was at stake here. _A full month of free desserts!_

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><p><strong>Outside Kaio's school gate…<strong>

"What in the world were you thinking? They threw us out!"

"You are overreacting a bit…"

"Overreacting a bit? Can you not see?", the younger of the two waved at the front gate that separated them from the grounds of the school (a minute ago it had clanged ominously shut), then waved at the two guards standing just inside the gate as they gave Yong-ha and him the evil eye.

"You are lucky I got there in time and convinced them not to call the cops on you!"

"They were just exaggerating. Do I look like the type to assault someone?"

"I stepped out for a bit to get us both a drink, but was a bit late since I ran into one of my uncle's Go salon patrons who had come to see his grandson's school festival and come back to a full classroom of students, one teacher and unbiased guests saying you were belligerent and attacked one of their students."

"I was not! I was just trying to stop your Hikaru from leaving…"

"What? Tell me you didn't! Now he hates me too. I told you Fujiwara Hikaru was really good. Were you in shock when you realized you lost and didn't notice you were physically attacking someone who was _much younger_ than you?"

"I wasn't attacking him! I just wanted another game, a chance for revenge on the board! I swear, I wasn't going to beat him physically or anything… he was leaving and you weren't there, and the kid didn't understand me so I just wanted to keep him in the room and…"

All he was able to get out was an exasperated "Ko Yong-Ha" before one of the guards warned them to leave _now _or they will really call the police on them.

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><p><strong>AN:** Hi all,

Hope you had fun reading and thanks for reviewing!

What do you guys think about this chapter? I wanted to show a bit of how Hikaru's sees her Go vs. what others see. Hikaru's idolizes her brother and since he was the one who had shaped and trained her back when she was too young to understand what Go was and then again for that time period when they were back together before they were forced to communicate through phone, texting and video chatting it was only expected that it would reflect Sai's Go. Still Hikaru is Hikaru and her Go is not a copy but a student's reflection of her sensei's Go; it is similar but at the same time quite different since she had put her own stamp on it.

Also, though it did annoy Hikaru that someone would belittle her brother's Go idol, she still wasn't as upset with Ko Yong-Ha suppose insults towards Shusaku as much as in the manga because (1) Sai is alive in this story and (2) Sai was never Shusaku.


	10. The Japanese Hokuto Cup Team

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: The Japanese Hokuto Cup Team<strong>

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><p>"<em>What kind of fruit sauce does Mommy's little cupcake want?"<em>

_Her daughter's response was to continue sucking on her thumb as she kicked her legs against her booster seat. Across from the baby girl, her older brother continue working on his homework as he answered their mother, "Mom, Hime wants the pear sauce today."_

"_Why? I thought her new favorite fruit was apples?"_

_Without even looking up from the essay he was currently writing, his left hand unerringly unearthed the correct textbook from the mess of books spread on the kitchen table._

"_Mommmm, apples were so last week, Hikaru wants pears today."_

_Blinking at the conviction behind her son's words, she picked up two candy-red apples and showed her daughter. "Apples?"_

_Three rapid headshakes followed as she stuck her teething ring in her mouth and leaned forward in an effort to grab any one of her brother's books and papers._

"_Are you sure?"_

_Three more quick headshakes preceded a long string of unintelligible baby talk as she waved her teething ring around._

"_No sis, you can't eat any of this. They are my school stuff and you will have your own once you go to school."_

_Another series of babbling followed but seeing still no reaction from her brother, she turned her attention back to their mom._

_Holding up pear, "Pearsauce?"_

_This time, her daughter did extend her right hand, palm up towards the pear in her hand in a gesture that meant "I want"._

_After a few minutes spent cutting pears into smaller pieces and then mixing them into the blender along with water, the woman carried the freshly made pear sauce towards her kids. She kissed the top of her son's head and reminded him to finish his sandwich and milk, plus "How do you even know what your sister wanted?"_

_Swallowing a bite of his favorite sandwich, "Hikaru looked like she wanted pear-sauce today."_

_Shaking her head at her son's answer, she continued on as she re-adjusted the bib around her daughter's neck (she still couldn't quite figure out why her daughter thought that the front of the bib belonged on her back and not in front of her), "Sometimes I think you even know what Hikaru would want to do in the future when she grows up."_

"_She will of course grow up to be an intelligent and kind girl who will reign over the Go world."_

"_Honey-bear, you are my little Go genius but your sister just turned 13 months old. She loves seating with you and your dad whenever both of you are playing Go now because she knows that whenever there is a break, she gets tiny pieces of the snacks you and your dad sneak to her than because of a game she is too young to understand."_

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><p><strong>A week after the end of the School Festival, in the Go Institute…<strong>

Sweating palms were wiped on pants as the time on the clock ticked away. There was nothing but the sounds of stones hitting the board and the tick tock of the clock on each participant tables as groups of 2 players per table dueled with the sole goal of making it to the finals and then earning one of the two available seats for the Hokuto Cup.

The third seat had already been offered and accepted by one of Japan's top under-18 Go players, Toya Akira. Noone disputed Akira's spot on the team and some were even thankful that only 1 out of 3 seats had been taken; there were some who were grateful and others who were sad to see 2 free seats up for the take.

However, no matter which party one belonged to, right now, at this very moment, everyone was doing their best to try to outdo the player who sat across the board facing them, after all, this were the finals 4 players and whichever emerged victorious would win their place in the Japanese team.

Everyone's thoughts were running along the lines of _"just one more move…just this one game"_.

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><p>Waya Yoshitake breathed a sigh of relief when he counted his territories and realized that he had won by 1.5 moku. He had been sweating buckets when his defense on the left side of the board did not hold strong enough and his Kansai opponent had been able to break through; he had bitten a couple of swear words back at the time and couldn't blame anyone but himself for underestimating his opponent and overestimating himself.<p>

He told himself to breath and to look at the board again, all was not lost. He had been counting on the territory taken to be the deciding area to win him the game, but now that he had lost it, he could either give up that area or launch a counterattack in an effort to gain back what he had let slide through his fingers.

"_It is all about what you need more than anything else. It's okay to lose an area but in return you must have an even bigger total area than your opponent."_

With one of his sensei's favorite sayings running through his head (aside from the one about _"Don't you ever let anyone from the Toya group beat you_!"), Waya had planned and prayed throughout the rest of his game. He used one of Hikaru's favorite tactics and pretended to stubbornly launch what his opponent would deem a pointless counterattack while in the end he slowly but surely chipped away at the rest of the other player's territory. By the time his opponent realized Waya's true aim, it had been too late.

Waya respectfully thanked the other player and looked to his right to see if the Ochi had also won. He blinked in surprise as he was told that Ochi's game had already been long done and that everyone was waiting for Waya's game to end to see who will be the last player to join the team.

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><p>Yashiro Kiyohara knew what his sensei and fellow Kansai Institute colleagues would be saying at that very moment when he opened the game with Tengen at 5-5. He knew many would call it a "<em>reckless move… that he was crazy"<em> but he was not only here to win a spot to participate in the Hokuto Cup, but to also prove to everyone else, especially his parents, that he belonged here. He heard about the great Toya Akira (who hadn't heard about the Meijin's son?) who didn't even need to go through this to earn a spot on the team, he also heard the whisper of how it should have been only1 seat left open and not 2, and that everyone's hope in this Hokuto Cup had been placed on the shoulders of the Tokyo Go Institute players.

Well, no matter what kind of whispers and rumors circulated, he, Yashiro Kiyohara, a recently minted Kansai Institute Go player had made it to the finals and he would not only win, but win with a memorable game that would make everyone realize that the Tokyo Go Institute wasn't the only place were great talents emerged.

He followed his next move with an even crazier one as his opponent after much thought ignored his 1st hand. He knew that the other teenager regarded him as an idiot and even had a look on his face that Yashiro could translate as _disdain_ but Yashiro was more than willing to take advantage of his opponent misconceptions to win the game.

As the game progressed, reckless hands gave way to more secure hands that slowly but securely won him more territories. In the end, no matter how much the opponent fought, he had to resign when he realized that the game was going nowhere but in Yashiro's favor.

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><p>When Waya finally got away from the swarm of reporters and well-wishers, he made his way towards Isumi and the other insei who came to support him.<p>

"_Congratulations!"_

"_You made it Waya!"_

"_I thought for a minute you were a goner when you lost a chunk of stones"_

He accepted the congratulatory slaps on the back, and even the well-placed smack to the back of his head when he gave a cheeky reply. Before they were able to go and celebrate, Shinoda-sensei reminded him to head over to the other room in 10 minutes for a team photo and interviews.

After a few minutes had passed with the promise of meeting his friends later at the lobby, Waya found both Toya Akira and another Kansai Institute player already in the room. Both players were seated across each other in the single rectangular table, and weren't saying anything to each other, at least not at the very moment he had entered the room. To his surprise, he found the ever polite Toya Akira texting on his cell phone while the silver-haired hip looking player was reading a book (squinting at it, he found it looked similar to the kind of books Toya was always towing around).

He imaged they had probably greeted each other politely but he wasn't sure if anything else had been said among themselves. Waya knew that Toya Akira at worst had been socially incompetent when it came to interacting with peers of the same age group, but thought that Hikaru had pretty much dragged/pushed much of his ineptitudes away. Also, the other player didn't look like someone who was shy or so studious so he wondered why it was so quiet. He shrugged away any worries, nodded when Akira looked up at him and introduced himself to the other player.

"Congratulations, I am Waya Yoshitake. Who are you?"

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><p>When Yashiro Kiyohara followed one of the Tokyo's Institution officials to another area for a team interview, he was a bit surprised to see Toya Akira already in the room. He knew that the other teen was already part of the representative team before the selections rounds had even begun but he didn't expect to actually see him so soon after his game had ended.<p>

He had expected _the _famous Toya Akira to be a bit arrogant since there was no denying his Go talents, but he was pleasantly surprised by how cordial the guy was even after the official had left both of them alone. He had tried to make some small talk, asked him if it was his first time in Tokyo and when did he had to go home before the conversation veered off to Go (_of course_).

Toya Akira even complemented his last game saying that he had made some insane but braves moves that Toya himself wouldn't have been brave enough to make. After scrutinizing him for a bit to make sure the guy wasn't just being sarcastic, he thanked him and in turn told him that he had seen some of his kifus and understood why many people in the Kansai Institute along with his sensei said (grudgingly) that Toya Akira was going to be leading the new wave of Go.

From then on, the conversation meandered off to another topic, about one of the greatest Go player Honinbo Shusaku. Toya then showed him a collection of short analysis he had been reading on his spare time about one of Shusaku's games; in it, a few contemporary players try to dissect Shusaku's game and why they thought he had make a certain move vs another. And when Toya's cellphone vibrated, the guy excuse himself and said he had to check the text to make sure everything was okay.

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><p><strong>AN:** Hi all,

Belated Happy New Year!

Don't know if you remember, but in a past chapter, I mentioned that Hikaru had been offered a position in the Japanese team but she had declined since at that time she didn't think she deserved to play while her brother laid stuck and unmoving in a hospital bed. At that time, she was still dealing with a lot of grief and guilt. And by the time Hikaru was back on the Go board, the selection rounds had been well on their way and Hikaru didn't think it was fair or right for her to ask the Go Institute to allow her a chance to also join midway through their selection.

Sad to think that it has taken so long for me to upload this chapter but many things have happened, including a writer's block for this chapter and problems at work with unreasonable and irresponsible administrators. Wish me good luck in finding a new job soon because I don't think either my co-workers or I would be able to stay much longer in such a chaotic and hostile workplace.


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